Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kinetics, to jointly develop a next-generation floating data centre platform. The two companies will collaborate on the design, construction and deployment of a state-of-the-art data centre hosted on a retrofitted vessel.
The facility will be supplied with uninterrupted, dedicated power from a range of flexible sources, including Powerships developed by Karpowership (Kinetics is the energy transition initiative of Karpowership), as well as options to integrate land-based grids, onshore solar farms, offshore wind, or other power generation solutions depending on project location and client requirements.
Karpowership, a pioneer in integrated floating power solutions, brings over two decades of operational experience with more than 10,000 MW of installed capacity across nineteen countries.
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Scalable, mobile, and rapidly deployable
This partnership combines Kinetics’ expertise in mobile energy infrastructure with MOL’s extensive maritime and offshore logistics capabilities to address the surging global demand for digital infrastructure. The floating platform will offer a scalable, mobile, and rapidly deployable alternative to traditional land-based data centres, overcoming the challenges of power constraints, land scarcity, and permitting delays.
‘This project represents a significant step toward our vision at Kinetics: delivering innovative, efficient, and sustainable infrastructure solutions that meet the energy needs of today and tomorrow,’ says Mehmet Katmer, CEO of Kinetics. ‘By pairing mobile power generation with floating data infrastructure, we are addressing critical market bottlenecks while enabling faster, cleaner and more flexible digital capacity expansion.’
Tomoaki Ichida, Managing Executive Officer of MOL: ‘This MoU represents an important step forward in leveraging the MOL Group’s assets and extensive expertise in ship operations to rapidly build digital infrastructure while minimising environmental impact. Moving forward, we will continue to expand a diverse range of social infrastructure businesses centred on the shipping industry. Through the advancement of our technologies and services, we are committed to proactively responding to society’s evolving needs, including the imperative of environmental conservation.’
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Deployment in 2027
This MoU marks the first dedicated collaboration between the companies towards delivering sustainable solutions for the digital age. Following successful feasibility studies and ongoing technical developments, the first floating data centre project is targeted for deployment in 2027.
Details of the project are:
- Data centre capacity: 20 to 73 MW (expandable depending on module configuration)
- Cooling system: Direct water cooling using seawater or river water
- Power supply: Powership provided by Karadeniz (capable of using multiple fuels such as LNG). Grid connection option is also under consideration
- Network: Plans to connect to IX (Internet Exchange) on land and submarine cables
Ship specifications for data centre:
- Gross tonnage: 9731 tonnes
- LOA: 120.00 m
- Breadth (beam): 21.20 m
- Draught: 8.98 m
Picture: CG rendering of powership and offshore data centre (image by MOL and Kinetics).
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